This Former Physicist Helps Keep the Internet Secure

When Alan DeKok began a side project in network security, he didn’t expect to start a 27-year career. In fact, he didn’t initially set out to work in computing at all.DeKok studied nuclear physics before making the switch to a part of network computing that is foundational but—like nuclear physics—largely invisible to those not directly involved in the field. Eventually, a project he started as a hobby became a full-time job: maintaining one of the primary systems that helps keep the internet secure.Alan DeKokEmployerInkBridge NetworksOccupationCEOEducation Bachelor’s degree in physics, Carleton University; master’s degree in physics, Carleton UniversityToday, he leads the FreeRADIUS Project, which he cofounded in the late 1990s to develop what is now the most widely used Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) software. FreeRADIUS is an open-source server that provides back-end authentication for most major internet service providers. It’s used by global fin